


par douceur que par force

by avantgarden



Category: Mamamoo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Love Triangles, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-08 04:23:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15922784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avantgarden/pseuds/avantgarden
Summary: “Hmm, you’re very pretty, Miss Wheein.” She says.“Thank you.” Wheein replies, flustered.Yongsun taps her finger on her desk and averts her attention to the papers in front of her. “Should I be worried?”“Worried..?”“No matter.” Yongsun smiles that eye-crinkling, mouth-splitting smile again. Wheein decides she can’t trust it. “It’s a pleasure to meet Byulyi's new assistant. Take care of her well, won’t you?”





	1. Chapter One

Wheein stretches her hands above her head, trying her best to shake out the knots in her back from sleeping in a weird position. The heat of the humid summer air made it all but impossible to find a comfortable position during the night and she had ended up contorting her body in strange ways just to catch the occasional breeze from her bedroom windows. Coming to work an hour early is more of a survival instinct due to how broken her house's air filtration system is.

The office itself is spacious and air conditioned, some of the perks of a big city job. It’s an open concept design, with multiple long desks lined up next to each other. There are couches and a rest area near the front door and a door leading to a kitchen next to it. There is a door leading to a private office and a huge conference room with glass walls off towards the back.

Wheein holds her bag closer to her chest as she looks around the office for someone to take notice of her. Luckily, the woman at one of the bigger desks lined up in front of a private office takes note of her. Long, brown hair falls in curled locks over her shoulder and her lips are painted a beautifully delicate rouge.

“Ah! You must be Wheein.” She stands up from her chair and walks over hurriedly. “I’m the office coordinator, Hyejin.” 

“Hello, Hyejin.” Wheein smiles. “I hope it’s not a problem I came early.”

“No worries. As you can see, I’m in pretty early too. Everyone else gets in pretty much on time, not much earlier or later.” Hyejin smiles. “Good thing you’re starting this week. A few things popped up over the weekend.”

“Such as?”

“Ah, how about I give you a run down of this office first?” Hyejin points at the desks around them. “Those are the desks of the design project leads, of course. Those couches are for when anyone needs to rest, or we get guests, or even just to eat. There is a cafeteria down on floor one, though.”

Hyejin walks towards the private office room door, currently shut out with blinds.

“This is Byulyi Moon's office. She’s the Director of Designs in the New York department of RainBridge.” Hyejin says. “And also, who you’ll be assistant to.”

“Great.” Wheein gulps, having previously been unaware of how important the woman she was to assist was going to be in the company. “Awesome.”

“Director Moon is a little… aloof, but she’s nice, underneath it all.” Hyejin says with a smile. “Don’t you worry. And your desk is that big one in front of her office.”

Wheein walks over to the desk and puts her bag down. While she’s shrugging off her jacket, Hyejin walks over to her own desk.

“And this is my desk, obviously. I was offered one of the private office spaces, but as office coordinator, I find it’s better I have a full view of everyone.” Hyejin concludes.

“So what were the things that popped up?” Wheein sits down on her chair and gives it a good spin. It spins nicely.

“Ah, right. Well, RainBridge’s Chief Design Officer, Yongsun Nam, transferred over here from our headquarters in Korea. She’s going to work in the New York offices for a bit of time, to grow our company’s presence and influence in the States. Her office is on the floor above us, floor 5. Floor five is where most of the financials and HR work is being done, by the way.” Hyejin says. “Our floor is mostly the design heads and leads. Floor 3 is where the general design teams work, so it’s a little crowded down there. Floor 2 is where our client services team and sales team work. And floor 1 is the cafeteria and general amenities. Are you, uh, dizzy?”

“Got it.” Wheein digs her feet into the floor to stop her spinning. The world doesn’t stop with her. “Woah.”

“You’re a big childish, aren’t you?” Hyejin laughs when Wheein looks alarmed at her statement. “Which is good, at least for me. Everyone on this floor is super serious. I’m glad to have another kindred spirit.”

Wheein allows herself to relax under Hyejin’s friendly gaze. “I can be serious, too. Where’s the Director, anyways? Is everyone always exactly on time?”

“No, no. She’s here early, most days. She’s up on floor five. Mrs. Nam called for her, probably to get herself situated in what’s happening in the New York offices.” Hyejin says. “You just missed her when you got in. She’s looking forward to having an assistant help her with all of her workload, so once she gets here, you can get acquainted. But for now, why don’t we go down to floor one and grab a coffee? There’s a Starbucks.”

“Seriously?” Wheein says, jumping up from her chair and almost collapsing at the sudden dizziness. “Woah. Yeah, could use some caffeine.”

“Try not to do the whole spinning business when people come in, okay?” Hyejin teases.

“No promises.” Wheein murmurs, following behind Hyejin to the elevators.

☾☾☾

“Why did you call for me?”

“What’s my purpose for transferring here…” Yongsun flicks the cork sticking loosely out of the wine bottle. “You asked me that last week, during the conference, and I had no answer for you. I did mention establishing our company’s presence in the States, but you and I both know you were asking why it had to be me and not someone else in the company.” A pause. “A glass for you as well?”

“No.” Byulyi's voice is sharp, her eyes narrowed as she watches Yongsun pour herself a glass of sherry.

“To be honest, I hadn’t the faintest idea when I accepted the transfer. I just knew I had to see you.” Byulyi watches as she pops the cork back in place. “Because I miss you. I think about you all the time.”

Yongsun pauses, pushes a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

“Don’t you?”

“Don’t I what?” Byulyi doesn’t attempt to mask the displeasure in her voice.

Yongsun only laughs. “Miss me too?”

“I don’t. I’d much rather I hadn’t seen you at all, Mrs. Nam.”

A moment passes with nothing more than the simmering air between them. Yongsun takes that as a cue to get up from behind her desk and walk around it. She leans her body against the front of her desk, standing in front of Byulyi.

“You’ve become so cold towards me.” Yongsun says, her voice lowering. “It’s so unlike you to be so harsh to me. Why the formalities?”

“You’re a married woman, Mrs. Nam.” Byulyi says.

Yongsun clicks her tongue. “I am a lot of things. I am a married woman. I am the CDO of a major corporation. I am your lover -” 

“Lover? Did you think it would be the same? After you married?” Byulyi spits out. “Did you think I’d follow along like a dirty secret? Like a lost dog? Do you think so lowly of me that you believed I’d follow behind you for the rest of my life?” 

The facade of lightheartedness fully drops from Yongsun’s face. The woman shifts in her place, left hand propping up her right elbow and her right hand swirling around her glass of wine. Her eyes cloud, momentarily, before she takes a sip of her drink and straightens her posture.

“Byul-ah. You know I never thought of you like that.” She says. “You are the only person I want by my side.”

“You’re saying you want me while still being married to that man.”

“Our businesses are tied together.” Yongsun drops her arm. “There’s nothing I can do about that.”

“There’s nothing I want you to do about that. It’s too late, anyhow.” Byulyi responds. “All I want is to be left alone.”

The silence is amplified, filled with Byulyi's quiet gaze burning into the carpet and Yongsun’s thoughtful hums as she gracefully swirls the wine in her hand. 

“I’ve made up my mind, Byulyi. I’m going to show you a side of me you’ve never seen. I am going to pursue you, relentlessly.” Yongsun puts down her glass of wine and saunters over, dropping a warm hand on Byulyi's shoulder. “I want you back.”

Byulyi pushes her hand of her shoulder. “You shouldn’t have come here. You should go back to Korea. Back to your husband.”

Yongsun’s face darkens.

“I don’t love him. In fact, I barely like him. It’s you. You’re the one I want.” She says with finality.

Byulyi laughs a hollow laugh. “Your words are as shallow as you are. Anyhow, I’ve got a meeting today I need to prep for. I’m leaving.”

She stands from her seat, briskly moving past Yongsun. The smell of Yongsun’s citrus-sweet perfume lingers in the air around her. It reminds her of better days. Her steps are hurried and her mind is racing. Anger bristles underneath her ribs and so she quickly pushes down on the handle and makes her leave. 

“And Byul?” She hears Yongsun softly call out behind her as she stalks out of the room. “I’m sorry. I really am.”

Byulyi refuses to process anything said, only glares harder when the door slams shut behind her.

☾☾☾

The tight feeling in Byulyi's chest lessens only slightly on her short elevator ride down to floor 4. She knew from the moment their department received notice of Yongsun’s transfer that there was more to it than just developing company relations in the States. If it was just that, they’d have sent someone lower on the totem pole.

And it was hardly fair, was it? Byulyi had volunteered to head the New York offices when the announcement to start a physical presence in the United States was announced three years ago because she wanted to get away from everything that had happened in Korea, including Yongsun. But here she was, flaunting her beauty and her flair for dramatics. When will Yongsun let her be?

Byulyi sighs, rolling up the sleeves of her dress shirt and tying her hair back in a loose ponytail. Things are getting busier now, with more people taking interest in the Korean bourne design company, and after three long years of building a presence in New York, Byulyi feels cheated that Yongsun decided now was the time to waltz back into her life.

It wouldn’t change anything, though. Just like Yongsun, Byulyi is a lot of things, but she is not pathetic. To crawl into the bed of a married woman, the same married woman that had ruined her in so many different ways… 

She’s got some of her pride left, anyhow.

Despite the busy month ahead of her, Byulyi tried to think positively. After all, wasn’t a new assistant coming in today? She looked over the girl’s resume a few weeks ago and she looked to be a hardworking and dependable person, at least on paper. The girl also moved to the states from Korea five years back, which Byulyi appreciated because her own grasp of American culture and language nuances was still a bit weak, although it was improving over the many years conducting business in New York.

Having a fellow Korean born Korean be her assistant was the obvious choice.

By the time Byulyi reaches her office door, she notices that there’s hardly a person there. It makes sense, being that the company hours don’t actually start for another thirty minutes, but she saw Hyejin before Yongsun called her away, and she sees that her assistant’s desk has a backpack on it.

Before she has to do any more mental gymnastics, the other elevator dings and the doors slide open.

“Director!” Hyejin walks over to Byulyi with a friendly wave and a coffee in her other hand. “This is Wheein.”

“Hi, Director. Pleasure to meet you.” The girl steps out next to Hyejin. “Thank you for hiring me and I will do my best to not let you down.”

The girl has brown hair up to a little past her shoulders and a cute smile that ends with a dimple in her cheeks. She’s holding a coffee in both hands, looking every bit nervous as she sticks one hand out to her.

“Hyejin said you like your coffee black.” Byulyi takes the coffee from her hand.

“Thank you, Wheein. It’s a pleasure to meet you too.” Byulyi says. “I’m sure you will do great here. Hyejin will help you get everything prepped on your company computer. She'll also help you organize out your files for the month. I've got to prep for a meeting but let's have a quick meeting later, once you're settled in, yes?”

Wheein finally looks her in the eyes and shoots her another smile with a quick nod. It’s cute, Byulyi thinks. Or it’s naive, Byulyi thinks further. It’s genuine and full of trust, the kind of smile that Byulyi wonders if she ever had, before everything in Korea. 

She shakes her thoughts of anything more and clicks open the door to her office, peeking her head out before shutting the door and catching Wheein’s eyes. Wheein gives her a double-thumbs up and another dimpled smile. She gives a tight lipped smile back and closes the door.

“Definitely naive.” Byulyi mutters.


	2. Chapter 2

After Hyejin finishes setting up her computer and handing her all the files she needs, Wheein sits at her desk and arranges the files in her cabinet, making sure to color code the papers by their different departmental categories. It takes all of an hour to do, which leaves her feeling bored afterwards, since the Director was too busy to hand off any of her duties over to Wheein. 

Hyejin is completely immersed in handing an internal systems crash, leaving Wheein to her own devices. Unfortunately, leaving Wheein to her own devices is never the brightest idea. Wheein cringes at her own inability to trust herself to not do something embarrassing. She has to stop herself from spinning herself nauseous in her chair like she did in the morning.

Wheein wonders if she should just knock on Byulyi’s door and ask if she could help with anything. The woman looked stressed this morning, despite the friendly smile on her face. There was this exhaustion that Wheein could see in Byulyi’s eyes. Even her sleeves were pushed up and her hair tied back, as if she was looking for a fight.

Despite all that, the Director was incredibly pretty. Her angular face and high cheekbones gave her an almost ethereal look. Wheein’s never seen a woman carry herself with as much poise as Director Moon. With her dress shirt sleeves pushed up, her dress pants, her hair tied back - Director Moon looks every bit like the kind of woman Wheein wishes she can get to know better.

Anything is better than sitting in her chair and staring at the ceiling.

Suddenly, the phone receiver on her desk beeps and flashes a red light.

“That means she wants you to pop into her office.” Hyejin quips, redirecting her attention for only a second to address Wheein before returning her attention to her computer screen.

“Ah!” Wheein jumps out her seat and to Director Moon’s office.

She pushes the door open gently before sliding inside the room. The director is deep in the middle of checking over documents. A pen dangles from the corner of her lips and her glasses are halfway down her nose. Still, her focus is entirely on the papers in her hands. Wheein finds that it’s hard to divert her attention away from the pen perched carelessly between the director’s bottom lip.

Wheein regains her composure when the pen comes down from the director’s mouth as she makes edits to the paper. “Um, you called for me?”

“Oh, yes. I’m sorry, but could you go up to the fifth floor and grab some documents from Mrs. Nam? I’ve already requested the papers via email. I just need someone to go grab them. I would go, but…” Byulyi points to the documents around her. “I can’t lose my place right now.”

“Of course! It’s kind of my job.” Wheein says.

The director spares Wheein a grateful smile. “Thanks, Wheein. Mrs. Nam’s office is the furthest office space down the hall. Can’t miss it.”

“Got it! I’ll be back before you know it.” Wheein hurries out the room. “You could time me, if you want. Actually, do it. Time me.”

“You don’t have to run -” Byulyi sighs as the door closes behind Wheein.

Despite the workload in front of her, Byulyi leans back in her seat and smiles. Shaking her head at her new assistant’s antics, she pulls out her phone and clicks on the stopwatch app before staring at her phone in confusion. She doesn’t have time to play along with stupid, childish games. The smile on her lips now a thin line, Byulyi turns over her phone and looks back at the documents at hand.

☾☾☾

The ride to the fifth floor feels slow enough to make the spacious metal elevator compartment feel like a metal coffin. Wheein groans as she leans against the handrail. She hits the back of her head against the wall of the elevator, begging the thing to go faster. Eventually, the doors slide open with a clunky ding and Wheein finds herself in a rather narrow hallway filled with doors to the left and the right of her. 

She recalls Hyejin mentioning that the financials and HR departments work, so she figures the separation here is purposeful. Eerie shadows line the floor of the hallway, in part due to the badly placed ceiling lights and awkwardly postured indoor plants.

At the end of the hallway, Wheein finds herself face to face with an intimidating wooden door.. The letters “CDO” are printed in block and painstakingly aligned on it, with a tempered glass window allowing Wheein to see blurry colors and shapes but nothing else. Without a second to waste, Wheein knocks and waits, watching as the blurry colors in the glass begin moving.

The door swings open.

The woman greeting her by the door is the opposite of what Wheein imagined when Hyejin mentioned her in the morning. Instead of being old and conservative, the older woman has striking blonde hair, unique in its color but professional in its styling. Her clothes are modern and fit, a blouse tucked into a high waisted black pencil skirt. It’s evident in her graceful and purposeful movements that the woman was brought up in high society.

“You must be Wheein. Why don’t you take a seat.” Yongsun says, walking over to her desk and taking a seat. “Since you’re Director Moon’s new assistant, we’re going to be seeing a lot more of each other. I’d like to get to meet you personally.”

“Okay.” Wheein takes a timid step forward and sits down on one of the plush chairs.

“I’m Nam Yongsun, as I’m sure you’re aware. I’m the chief design officer for RainBridge. I’m based in Korea, but I’ll be here for a little bit. What else about me? Hm. I’m a Pisces, if you’re interested in that sort of thing.” She says. “That’s enough about me. Tell me about yourself.”

“Um, my name is Wheein. Full name, Jung Wheein. I’m not really into zodiac stuff, but I’m an Aries.” Wheein responds.

Wheein feels a jolt spread down her back, a heavy uneasiness, when Yongsun leans over the table and gives her a wide smile. The older woman opens her eyes after her smiling, her eyes still narrowing as they run up and down her body. Every place Yongsun’s eyes land on, Wheein feels the compulsion to hide. Her eyes scream indifference but her gaze holds a certain weight that Wheein can’t put a name on. Wheein holds herself a little closer together.

“Your Korean is very exceptional. Were you born in America?” Yongsun asks, her eyes still boring deeply into hers.

“No, I grew up in Korea.” Wheein tries to stop the nervousness from seeping into her words. “I moved to New York five years ago for college and stayed ever since.”

Yongsun doesn’t answer, only hums in acknowledgement.

“Hmm, you’re very pretty, Miss Wheein.” She says after a few moments pass.

“Thank you.” Wheein replies, flustered.

Yongsun taps her finger on her desk and averts her attention to the papers in front of her. “Should I be worried?”

“Worried..?”

“No matter.” Yongsun smiles that eye-crinkling, mouth-splitting smile again. Wheein decides she can’t trust it. “It’s a pleasure to meet Byulyi’s new assistant. Take care of her well, won’t you?”

“Of course. I’ll do my best not to let her down.” She responds.

“Yes, letting her down would be a shame.” Something sullen flickers in Yongsun’s eyes before the older woman leans back down against her chair. She rifles through some files on her desk and pulls out a manila folder. After quickly checking the contents, she hands it to Wheein.

“Anyhow, here are the documents that Director Moon requested.” She says. “I’ll be working on some highly classified company projects for the rest of the day, so please let Director Moon know that if she needs any other documentation, she should come up herself.”

The woman is immersed deeply back in the papers in front of her, silent in her dismissal. Wheein takes the opportunity to quickly scurry out of the room. The atmosphere surrounding Mrs. Nam is overwhelmingly confusing. There’s an overt friendliness in Nam Yongsun, but there’s also a cold detachment beneath her words. It unsettles Wheein.

☾☾☾

“Mrs. Nam is scary.” Wheein groans, sitting back down on her chair after handing Director Moon the folder.

Hyejin laughs from her desk. “She’s the youngest female Chief Design Officer in Korea. That’s the highest design position anyone can really hold, and for a company as big as RainBridge is… well. You’ve got to be a little intense to get to where she is, right?”

“But she’s got predator eyes.” Wheein whines. “I thought I was gonna die in there. With her blonde hair and everything, that was like sitting in front of a starving lion.”

Hyejin’s lips curl up. “I’ll be sure to tell her that.”

“What?” Wheein almost falls out her seat. “Oh my God Hyejin you really better not!”

“Relax, I’m kidding.” Hyejin winks. “I promise.”

“Don’t make jokes like that.” Wheein whines.

Before Hyejin can respond, the director’s door swings open and Byulyi pops out of the room. “Good afternoon Hyejin, Wheein.”

“Hi, Director!” Wheein waves while Hyejin nods in acknowledgement

“I know it’s last minute, but I’m going to go grab lunch. Care to join me, Wheein?” Byulyi asks. “I was thinking we could get some udon together, since we haven’t gotten to really sit down and talk.”

The temptation of food mixed with the thought of getting to know her boss better sparks a jittery excitement inside Wheein. With an eager nod of the head, Wheein hops off her seat and grabs her jacket off the back of it. She shrugs it on as quickly as she can while Byulyi waits patiently by the elevators.

☾☾☾

Walking to the udon place with Byulyi is pleasant, especially since the weather outside is crisp and nice. Byulyi doesn’t say much, mostly looks ahead and occasionally down at her watch, but Wheein doesn’t mind. She figures a woman like Moon Byulyi must always have a schedule to adhere to. After all, didn’t she say she had an important meeting in the afternoon?

Just the fact that Byulyi’s offered to bring her to lunch makes Wheein feel happy from how sweet the gesture is. Surely the busy woman has better things to do than take a fifteen minute walk to a restaurant. The cafeteria is just downstairs, after all. Still, Wheein is appreciative. She can tell that Byulyi wants to make her feel welcome to the company, and Wheein hopes that in time, she’ll be able to live up to any expectations the company might have of her.

“This is Flavor Yoki.” Byulyi says when they arrive at a small restaurant resting right on the corner of a quiet off-road. “One of my favorite restaurants in the area.”

They step inside the restaurant and Wheein takes in the room. The floors and walls are lined with wood, giving the place a cabin feeling. A few cloth banners hang from the ceiling, with cute figurines lining shelves along the walls. There are elevated seats with pillow cushions and wooden tables along the sides and a huge counter with a kitchen behind it on the far side of the restaurant. The place is full of the smell of delicious broth.

“It looks really cute!” Wheein says, marveling at the little figurines and taking in the wonderful smells. “And the food smells delicious.”

“It is. It’s run by one of my friends.” Byulyi knocks on the counter. “Hey, Seul!”

“Ah! Byul!” Wheein hears the voice before she sees anyone appear, but before she can look around, a head pops out from the side of the kitchen. “And guest!”

“This is my new assistant, Wheein.” Byulyi says.

“Nice to meet you, Wheein! My name’s Seulgi.” The woman says, finally stepping out from the hidden area of the kitchen and standing directly behind the counter. “And welcome to my love shack.”

Byulyi immediately coughs. “Seul, I told you that ‘love shack’ doesn’t mean what you think it does.”

“I love food and this place is tiny. It’s my little house of love! My love shack.” Seulgi says, dismissing Byulyi’s complaint with a wave of her hand. “Now, what will it be?”

“Are you okay with a little heat?” Byulyi asks Wheein. “I’m a fan of spicy food but they have a ton of non-spicy options.”

“I can take heat.” Wheein says. “I’m not scared. Tell her to make it as spicy as possible.”

“Wheein…” Byulyi laughs at the girl’s enthusiasm. “I don’t know if that’s the best idea.”

Wheein nods. “I can do it. I eat spicy food all the time.”

“Okay, great. We’ll have two orders of Red Flavor, please.” Byulyi looks at Wheein. “Final warning! It’s really, really spicy.”

Once Wheein makes a decision, she stands stubbornly by it, and this time is no different. When Seulgi brings out two bowls of udon, the soup in each bright red from pepper flakes and jalapeno oil, a small voice in Wheein’s head squeaks out an “uh oh.” She ignores it.

“How are you liking RainBridge so far?” Byulyi says, taking a bite of her udon.

“It’s great! My first big girl job.” Wheein replies while following suit. “I’m really liking it.”

That turns out to be a big mistake. The initial bite is full of flavor, which tricks Wheein into thinking she would have no issues eating the soup. It takes ten full seconds until the heat kicks in, and when it kicks, it kicks hard. Only her pride keeps Wheein from bursting into tears and running into the kitchen and shoving her face into a freezer.

Byulyi looks unaffected as she takes big bites of the udon. “Have you met any of the design heads?”

As much as Wheein would love to continue the conversation, she’s much too busy trying not to die in a noticeable way.

“Wheein, are you okay? You’re turning red.” Byulyi looks amused.

“Everything. Is. Fine.” Wheein takes another big bite to prove her point.

“Are you sure you shouldn’t stop eating?” Byulyi says. “I don’t want to lose my assistant on her first day on the job.”

“It’s. Not. That. Bad.” Wheein manages to squeeze out. “Totally. Mild.”

“I can add more spices to your soup if you’d like?” Seulgi calls out from the kitchen.

“No!” Wheein screams.

Byulyi finally laughs, her cheeks scrunching up and her teeth bared, and it’s the most ridiculously endearing laugh Wheein’s ever seen. She feels a warmth spread in her chest at the sight, despite her slow death via liquid fire. She laughs as best she can along with the director, enjoying the moment, but as soon as it’s there, it’s gone, replaced by the loud ringing of Byulyi’s phone.

The director gives her an apologetic smile and she steps outside to pick up the call. Wheein takes the opportunity to run to the counter and grab a cup of water from a highly amused Seulgi.

“You’re a funny one.” Seulgi says. “I like you. I’ll grant you a present. Lifetime supply of Red Flavor Udon, whenever you want.”

Wheein almost cries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Team moonsun or team wheebyul? Yongsun is bad and boujee & Wheein is cute and endearing, and to be honest it's hard for me to choose. ;~p


End file.
